hey all! 

 

so i just purchased a brand new triton trx 179. The trim gauge was not working when i went to pick it up, dealer mechanics worked on a few parts but couldn’t get it going so they are ordering me a brand new setup for the whole unit/wires, but said it might be a little bit with this corona shutdown. 

 

ive had the boat out 7-8 times now in the two weeks i’ve owned it and here’s the thing. the first time i start the boat the trim gauge works perfectly (aside from the very first outing) and will work until i shut it off. After the first time i turn it off it won’t work, stays pegged at the top (trim all the way up). I have a lot more knowledge with carpentry then i do making motors crank or electric run. 

 

i read that the trim gauge requires 12v to work, the boats inboard charger doesnt hook to the main cranking battery that the gauges run off of so i hooked a charging unit up to that. was only reading 40% guess the battrry has been sitting for a bit. 

 

question- do you think once it’s fully charged the trim gauge will work always? should i still take advantage of the new unit once it arrives at the marina? and lastly with the battery being brand new but reading so low should i ask for a new cranking battery or should a new battery that’s been sitting too long (assumed) be good once it’s charged back up. 

 

sorry for the questions i seem to have horrible luck with new boats working properly (3-3 with different dealers) on brand new rigs. if it matters the motor is a mercury 115 pro xs. 

The alternator will give enough juice to the trim gauge that it should work whether the battery is fully charged or not.  Sounds like you just have a bad gauge. 

 

As far as a new cranking battery, there should be a date code on the battery. If it doesn't say Xmonth 2020 on it, I'd ask for a new one. Ideally, you should have a charger with a bank for every battery you have on the boat. Unless you're making long runs everything you go out, your charging battery isn't getting charged. 

X2